English At 50 | University of Waterloo

Mrs. Kelly Young (BA 1988) faced many of life's challenges while pursuing her education. She attended the University of Waterloo because she was interested in the co-op program, which was unique at the time. She was on her own financially, and the co-op program was a big incentive. She also wanted to be close to her boyfriend, who was already attending UW. She was enrolled as a co-op student for the first two terms of her degree. She recalls a serious recession in 1981 when she, like many other students, was unable to find a co-op job. She left Waterloo to live with her sister but still couldn’t find work, and as a result, she could only attend one more term at UW before she ran out of money. When Kelly returned for a third term of studies, financial constraints prompted her to switch to correspondence classes.

After working in Toronto for a year while taking distance ed courses, she moved to Kincardine, Ontario where she continued to work full time and take more courses by correspondence. Before completing her degree, Kelly became a mother and often listened to her classes on tape while feeding the baby. Upon completing her degree, Kelly made sure she attended her convocation.

English was the only subject that Kelly had ever wanted to study. It had never occurred to her to study anything else. She recalls that she “devoured books like my life depended on it and loved to write.” While attending UW, Kelly thoroughly enjoyed every class that looked at anything to do with Shakespeare. Even though she tried to work part-time throughout her undergraduate years, keeping up with her readings always remained a priority. Her one regret is that she did not get more involved in student life while at UW.

After graduation, Kelly took a part-time position as a reporter for the Owen Sound Sun Times and was a freelance writer for about 15 years. She then became a full-time reporter for the Kincardine News for three years before making another career change. Today, she lives in Kincardine with her husband Jeff and works part-time in a local bookstore. She is a member of the executive for the town's swim team, a coach of the high school swim team and a member of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority. Kelly and her husband have two sons, one who attends Fanshawe College and another who is in his fifth year of high school.

From her experiences at UW, Kelly learned that life doesn’t always unfold according to plan. Even with all the twists and turns in her own undergraduate experience, however, her English degree led her to some great writing jobs.